Mass Text Facility: this is a TEST

Ok so earlier today I was reading this thread:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Found it quite interesting and went on my way.
However!

I was just happily doing my university coursework and got a text:

"This is the annual TEST of the Mass Text Facility which has been implemented in the interests of Personal Safety. There is no emergency, this is a TEST"

from the number 88020.

The funny thing is.... I live in England. Did anyone else from the UK get this? It may well be some spam from someone who thinks he's funny... But I guess you never know. Are 'they' preparing for something 'big'?

What a crazy world we live in.

I'd love to hear from any other English members to see if they also got the text.

(Thought I'd make a different thread from the Verizon one seen as this has happened in England, not the States)


*EDIT*

After reading over the text again I can't stop looking at the words "interests of Personal Safety." What a strange phrase. Obviously if this is a legit test and not some 'hilarious' spammer, its obviously a method to warn people, about god only knows, for their "personal safety." Perhaps a disaster/invasion/early warning system of the 21st century?

sounds like a scam. that number is used for a lot of stuff. best option would be to send 'stop' to that text number, otherwise you are possibly being charged.

Originally posted by JohnySeagull
sounds like a scam. that number is used for a lot of stuff. best option would be to send 'stop' to that text number, otherwise you are possibly being charged.

I did think of this. I do recieve spam messages now and again, but they are generally trying to sell me something and always say I can reply 'stop' to take me off their texting list. It's usually like: "Want to make £2000" rubbish, or "Are you interested in the latest..." I've never recieved any spam message (if it is one) as sinister sounding as this.
I guess I'll check my phone bill, but I've never been charged for them before.

As I understand it our system moved away from the TV style warning onto text/phone warnings some time ago, last I heart the national alert messaging system was active from around 2005.. be nice to know if anyone has any updated information on the system.

Best thing to do with SPAM text messages is to ignore them. When they say reply STOP to stop receiving these messages, you are confirming your number belongs to a live subscriber, and on to a list you go.

Just delete them. Most providers, except for chinese ones like DoCoMo wont charge for received text messages.

I just googled the number and it appears it is used for a variety of things.
However it also seems to be used by the government, for example:

www.sais.gov.uk...

I also found another example to do with the health service.
Its obviously a number which is used for mass texts and also used to route replies to certain systems.

Perhaps it is just spam, but as I said before it doesn't appear to be trying to sell anything. Its just a very weird coincidence due to what the article I originally posted said.

reply to post by Noviz


and Police use the number for mass texts.
e.g www.bedfordshire.police.uk...

Could be spam or a simple test...

I received the same message today, and yes I'm from England XD From the same number, saying the same thing at 16:03 this afternoon 14/12/11. What network are you on? No one else I have spoke to got the message, and I am on a different network to all of them.

Originally posted by Yokocapolo
I received the same message today, and yes I'm from England XD From the same number, saying the same thing at 16:03 this afternoon 14/12/11. What network are you on? No one else I have spoke to got the message, and I am on a different network to all of them.

I got mine at 16:01 so basically the same time.
I'm on T-Mobile.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't a spam message as it appears pointless other than testing an emergency system. Still though, you have to wonder if there is any connection with the tests that are going on in America. It wouldn't surprise me if they were preparing for a large war with potential attacks/invasions on the countries own soil... not to fear monger or anything lol.

Just another update:

I just happened to post this to my facebook and it appears my housemate also recieved the text. He's on a different network, Virgin, so it wasn't network specific. He also says he rarely puts his mobile number online (although I suppose that doesn't stop spammers).

*EDIT*

During the last 5 minutes more of my friends have said they recieved the same message. Thats now 6 people, including myself, that I know who got it (not counting the user above)... I find it strange I can't find anything on twitter about it... although I'm useless at searching it.